I'm an addict.

My latest craving is avocado smoothies with boba. I got hooked when Nora was only 4 days old. Mom and I went out for bubble tea, and I decided to try their avocado smoothie. I loved it, so I got home and looked for recipes online after ordering some boba and straws. I found a couple, but I ended up concocting my own after combining a few. Now, I live on these. I think it is my lunch 2-3 days out of the week.

My recipe (very precise):

I boil some water for my boba, and add them. I love these, because they're ready in only 5 minutes versus a half hour for most. In a blender, I combine 1 small Hass avocado, about 1 tbsp. honey, 2-3 tbsp. sweetened condensed milk, some skim milk, and ice. Blend it up good. After the boba are cooked, I drain off the water and add a little honey and sugar and let them sit for a few minutes. Pour the smoothie into a cup, add the boba, and enjoy! I really never measure any of the ingredients, so it's all a matter of taste and texture preference!

It's probably a little too laden with sugar to be healthy, but tastes so good on a hot summer day!

For now, I remain happily addicted. However, if in the future I want to quit, I have made the first step- admitting my addiction!

ABC's

Singing the ABC's with Elmo.

Lazy days of summer

Dane's new stunt is backfloating all by himself. He's so good at it, I might have to take lessons from him! I can't float on my back for anything- my feet always sink!

Another cute swimsuit- this one from Grammy.
Napping with Mommy today.

Cute little ruffle bottom!

Am I supposed to be excited about tummy time?

A flower on the bottom this time!

Bath time is twice as fun these days! Dane always offers to share his toys with Nora.

FYI

Just a quick little note for any of you mommies out there who might be interested... Renee was at Babies "R" Us the other day and noticed a woman returning a whole bunch of bottles. She happened to ask about it, and a store employee confirmed that they would take back any old bottles containing BPA and give store credit for them. The only stipulations are that it must be a type of bottle sold at Babies "R" Us, and the bottles have to be complete. The bottles didn't actually have to be purchased at Babies "R" Us, and you don't need a receipt or anything. Sounds too good to be true, but I took in all my old Avent bottles that I had used with Dane, and I got $41 store credit today! They even accepted one bottle that had covers but not a nipple. You may want to check with your local store first, especially if you're making a special trip just to return bottles, but it's worth your time and effort if you have more than a couple of bottles. I checked the official Babies "R" Us website, and they don't have anything under their recall notices about this, but it worked here. Hopefully this will be helpful for somebody else out there, too!

Nora's first swim

We took Nora for her first dip in the pool last evening. Renee called to say that she had bought Nora an itty-bitty little swimsuit (she already has a couple!) and that we should really try it out. Of course, we never turn down an opportunity to swim in this heat! Nora wasn't so sure of the water at first.

Soon she was relaxing in Mommy's arms and almost falling asleep.
After we took her out of the pool and bundled her up, she couldn't keep those eyes open any longer. Swimming will tire a girl out!

Dane just loves to swim by himself (with close supervision, of course!) in his water wings. He has just picked this up in the past two weeks.

Weekend

Friday night we went for a little swim. Dane was a good sport and put on these goggles long enough for a cute picture. They didn't really fit very well, so they came off shortly.

After swimming, we went out for some delicious Napoleon-style pizza. Dane loves his grated Parmesan cheese!
Goofing around with the business card. Dane likes to see if he can balance anything and everything on his head.

On Saturday we bought Dane this baseball fan for his bedroom. He wouldn't let Daddy rest all weekend until it was installed!

Sunday evening, Dane got to eat his own ice cream cone. Lip-smacking good!

It wasn't exactly a neat affair. Check out the ice cream dripping down his chest. Mommy caught him shortly after this and placed him at the table!

Another Sunday, another beautiful dress!

Naptime.

Smiling!

This picture doesn't fully capture it, but little Nora has started smiling at us when we talk to her, tickle her cheeks, or blow on her face. So sweet!

Big brother, little sister

Dane is still so very much in love with little baby Nora. He tries to give her the pacifier when she's upset, and he's always hugging and kissing on her!

Playtime

The Daddy's had to both work late last evening, so Renee and I met at Town Square with the kiddos. Carter and Dane enjoyed running around the fun little park, peeking out windows, sliding, and riding the funny-looking caterpillar. Then we grabbed a bite to eat together before heading home to bathtimes and bedtimes.

1 month old

...and where has the time gone? Life wouldn't be the same without our sweet little Nora who fills our days (and nights) with love. One big accomplishment- Nora is asleep tonight before 10:30! We are working hard at changing this little night owl's schedule. She likes to be awake from 9pm to midnight or 1am when we are all wearing thin from a long day! Hopefully we can get this straightened out before Mommy has to return to work in a month. Dane just loves his little sister more and more every day, kissing her and loving her every chance he gets. Here's a quick picture of Nora today, working on a sweet little smile.

Home photography

Two weeks ago, I took these pictures of Nora. I had wanted to take her to a studio for newborn photos, but these turned out so well that I didn't think it would be worth my time or money. I must give credit to Picnik, the free online photo editing program that I used to doctor them up!

A perfect little dolly!

Mommy's been playing dress-up again! Hat and dress from Grammy, shoes from Renee. Good looks courtesy of Daddy!

Newborn pictures of Mike and myself. I'll let you decide who's who.

Daddy

Here is a picture of Mike when he was about 2 weeks old, we think. Nora looks very much like him, too.

Mommy

My aunt Diane sent me this picture taken when I was just one week old. It reminds us both a lot of Nora.

Growing and changing every day!

Little bright eyes.

Snuggling in with her blanky for a little snooze.
Out for the count.

A little tummy time. Nora's getting stronger every day and often lifts her head way off the Boppy.

More family!

The house almost echoes today after so many days of special family visits. Mike's parents, sister, nephew, and niece all came this weekend and left yesterday. My parents flew home on Monday. We miss everyone terribly!

Proud Grandpa meets his newest granddaughter.

Nora shows Aunt M her cute little dimple.
Grandma and all her grandbabies minus one. We celebrated her birthday a couple of days late.
The kids played and played together. The sprinkler and pool were a big hit. (No pictures of the swimming pool.)

Dane could pass for Zach and Ellie's little brother quite easily! The bathtub was full of sand after this evening playing in the sandbox.

Good buddies.

Bedtime stories. How many can we fit on Dane's bed?

The group at the Secret Garden at the Mirage resort. The kids loved the dolphins, white tigers, and especially the seven sweet little tiger cubs.